Effective development co-operation

OECD and the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

The Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness – held in Busan, Korea, from 29 November to 1 December – marked a turning point in international discussions on aid and development. It was clear from the agenda of the event, the associated programme of side events, and the principles and commitments agreed in the outcome document that this was a conference about development, not aid. The diversity of the delegations participating in sessions and endorsing the outcome document underlined the broad relevance of the Paris principles on aid effectiveness, anchored in the OECD through the efforts of the DAC-hosted Working Party on Aid Effectiveness.

The conference delivered a number of important outcomes, the most important of these being the agreement on the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation by donors, providers of South-South co-operation, developing countries, CSOs, private sector representatives and others – with Brazil, China and India endorsing the Busan principles and agreeing to use these as a reference point for South-South co-operation. This agreement was underpinned by an inclusive and transparent negotiation process – led by the DAC-hosted Working Party on Aid Effectiveness. The new global partnership for effective development co-operation will be supported by the OECD and United Nations Development Programme.

The OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD), as Secretariat to the DAC and the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness, put its full weight behind the organization of the Busan HLF-4, together with its co-hosts, Korea. In particular, DCD actively contributed to the presentation of a series of building blocks – on results, transparency, fragmentation, fragile states, climate change, South-South co-operation, effective institutions and the private sector – designed to enable countries, firms and CSOs to begin to implement the Busan commitments immediately.

DCD’s diverse teams were also actively involved in the launching of a number of international agreements on core development challenges, including: